May 15 Is Writers Worth Day

statue-money-copyMy friend Lori Widmer is a seasoned writer and blogger, and a tireless advocate of better pay for pixel-stained wretches everywhere.  Five days a week she offers brief, cogent (and well-written!) advice to writers and would-be writers on her blog, Words on the Page.  She has an active commenting community of fellow writers who chime in on a daily basis with encouragement, ideas and horror stories.

Lori has declared that today is “Writers Worth Day,” a day for all of us in the writing “industry” to take a stand against the cheesy job boards and websites that offer, for example, payment of $5 for a well-researched, original blog post of 300 words or more.  “Our careers depend on your turning down bad deals because each time you accept a lousy offer, you validate the existence of people who don’t value writing skills,” she declares, and I say, hear hear!

I quibble a bit with her references to a writing “industry.” I think writing actually is broader and more fundamental than an industry.  Writing is a close cousin to knowledge, and while people speak of “knowledge workers,” I don’t think there’s really a “knowledge industry” — despite 618,000 Google hits for the term.  It seems like an “industry” should be more narrowly defined, and have at least some barriers to entry.

But I certainly agree with her that capable writers should be taken seriously — especially by themselves.  We do add value.  Speaking of which

3 thoughts on “May 15 Is Writers Worth Day

  1. Thanks so muhc for the continued support, chum. 🙂 I appreciate it.

    Yes, I use the term “industry” pretty freely. Mainly it’s because in my opinion, we’ll survive if we consider ourselves part of a larger whole. We are service providers, and in that sense, I believe like the real estate industry, plumbing industry, and healthcare industry, I think we qualify as an industry. Do I care if we’re not? Not really. 🙂 It’s the idea of community and cohesiveness I’m pushing.

    What about calling us members of the writing field? Sounds a little Old MacDonald, but it may work. 🙂

  2. Pingback: No, “Work-at-Home” Pimps, I Won’t Write Blog Posts for $5 :All That Is Necessary…

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